


Language Barriers

by Aeiouna



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:02:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeiouna/pseuds/Aeiouna





	Language Barriers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rodinia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/gifts).



Sara was six when the weird symbols appeared on her wrist. Мила. Wasn't this supposed to be when the name of her soulmate appeared? Mickey's wrist had the name "Emil" clear as day on it, but Sara's was undecipherable.

Мила.

What on earth could it mean? Was her soulmate an alien? That would be kind of cool but probably unlikely.

Mickey walked into Sara's room, tracing the letters on his arm meticulously. E-m-i-l. "Hey Sara, you've never shown me your mark yet!"

Sara found herself pushing the sleeve of her jacket down some more. "Um."

"Sara we share everything! We're twins, remember! C'mon, I wanna see!" Mickey begged and Sara finally relented, showing Mickey her arm.

Mickey didn't know what Мила meant either. "I see an M, and an A, but what are those weird looking things in the middle. Those aren't letters, they're nonsense."

"I know," Sara sighed and quickly covered her arm again.

"Do you even have a soulmate, then?" Mickey asked.

"Don't say that!" Sara countered with tears in her eyes. She shooed him out the door. She had to have a soulmate, she _had_ to. Everyone did!

* * *

She was thirteen when someone finally recognized the symbols on her arm. "Your soulmate is from Russia?"

Sara cocked her head. "Huh?"

"Your soulmark. Мила." The person vaguely gestured to her arm. "That's Cyrillic, Russian specifically. I can't translate it but that is definitely Russian."

Sara enrolled in a Russian class the very next year, and was able to figure out the name of her soulmate at last.

Mila.

Мила meant Mila.

She ran home shouting, "Mila! My soulmate is a girl and her name is Mila!" into the nearly empty house.

Mickey was right behind her. "You know no one's home yet, but how'd you figure it out?"

Sara turned on her heel. "Well, last year someone told me that my soulmark was Russian. So that's why I'm taking the Russian class. And today I finally translated it!"

"Mila, huh? I wonder who it is. Probably a skater?" Mickey suggested, "That'd be kinda cool."

* * *

Sara was seventeen and at her second Juniors GPF final when she met her.

Mila Babacheva, who qualified for the GPF finals in her first year of eligibility, literally bumped into Sara backstage. "Oh. I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"It's alright, neither of us were hurt. I'm Sara, by the way. Sara Crispino. I'm from Italy," she held her hand out.

Mila took it, "Mila Babacheva. Russia."

"Oh yeah, you have the same coach as the great Victor Nikiforov right?" Sara tried to make small talk and keep it casual in case this Mila wasn't _her_ Mila.

Mila nodded, "Yeah. Vitya - I mean _Victor_ \- isn't _that great_ though." She adjusted her hair and Sara saw it. On her wrist.

Four letters.

One name.

_Sara_.

"You have my name on your arm," Sara whispered.

"Oh, you noticed," Mila blushed, "It took me a while to figure it out, since it's in the Latin alphabet. It'd look different in my language."

"Yeah, I had the same issue growing up. The name on my arm is written in the Cyrillic alphabet," she showed Mila.

"That's my name."

"Yeah, I figured that out a few years ago. Someone told me it was Russian when I was 13, and I studied the language at 14 to translate it."

Mila shuffled her feet, "That's, wow. That's dedication. I was learning English anyway to compete internationally so I picked up a little quicker obviously. But, I was about ten when I finally figured it out."

"About when I figured mine out too. That would make sense if..." Sara caught herself.

"Um, you wanna get some ice cream after we compete? I'm sure Yakov won't mind if I tell him," Mila managed a smile.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Sara said after a bit of hesitation, "Meet me here after?"

"You got it."


End file.
